From: Saint84_98@yahoo.com (Saint84_98@yahoo.com) Subject: [PW!] To Sleep, Perchance to Dream.... Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2000/05/09 Taron sat on the shore of Vermillion City, the sun was setting. Procyon was at the Pokemon Center, Suik was off in the field east of the city. That was fine with Taron, he needed to be alone. He reached into the backpack that was next to him, and pulled out a long hollow instrument. For all intents and purposes it was a Pokeflute, but without that carved pokeball at the end. He put it to his lips, paused for a moment, then blew. The note was a bit flat so he changed his breathing a bit, then the note was perfect. He smiled for a moment then continued playing. The song itself was slow, almost haunting. It reflected Taron's mood perfectly. The notes mingled with the sound of the waves crashing against the beach. Normally, it would have left Taron with a feeling of peace and serenity. Playing it usually did. Not today though. The dream was on his mind. The dream had been happening more frequently now. Every night in fact. It was always the same. At first it was dark, then suddenly a spolight would cut through the darkness. At first it would just be a beam of light, then suddenly a figure would step out of the shadows. This next part is what disturbs Taron the most, it was a Haunter. The fact that it was a Haunter wasn't what shocked him. One, he could see the Haunter and Two, the fact that he recognized it as a Haunter, as he was born blind and had never seen a Haunter, or anything for that matter..... ********* Lightning flashed and the Haunter smiled. "Welcome Taron" it said, though it's mouth never moved. "Who are you? What am I doing here?" Taron said. The Haunter shrugged. It continued to smile, like one who has a secret and refuses to tell other people, just to torment them. "I am called Nova, as to why you are here..." He cackled. "One day you may know. But I will not be the one to tell you." At that moment The spotlight would disappear and normal lighting come up. Taron gasped. Next to Nova were two cages one on each side. In the cage to the left, was a sandshrew Taron recognised as Tumbleweed, and in the right was a Likitung named Cammy. "What is this? Let them go." Taron rushed forward but was immediatly jerked back. he fell to the ground. He looked at his wrists around each of them was a cuff, with a foot of chain attached to them. That was it, just a foot of chain, it wasn't even tied down to anything but it still held him back. Taron looked up again. This time, sitting in front of The Haunter were six globes, red on the top white on the bottom, they were roughly five and a half feet each in circumferance. They were made of a clear glass, (the top being colored red glass) Inside each was a shadowed shape. A spotlight shined on the first three one at a time. inside them was a Tauros, a Butterfree, and a Spearow, respectivly. Then the process repeated again with the other three. Inside of these were a Wartortle, A Machop, and a Venonat. Taron nodded. "Oh of course." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "My four current pokemon, meet my four old pokemon. My past meets my present." Nova cackled again. "Good, I'm glad you picked up on it so fast, little human." Another cackle, "But look again..." Taron did as he was told. There was a seventh pokeball. "So, who's in this one? I never had more than these eight pokemon..." Another cackle. "You misunderstand, my friend. This last pokeball..... is for you!" Without warning the ball cracked open. and Taron was sucked in with the force of a tornado. Then, everything went black again. ******* When Taron opened his eyes he groaned. "Oh man not this." He was back at the Tech, in his Statistics Interpretation class. Professor Reynold's was teaching again. Only... it wasn't him. Instead, there was a fourteen year old kid, with brown hair, and brown eyes, he wore a standard white lab coat over his T-Shirt and Jeans. His mind supplied him with the name, Procyon. The kid next to him coughed, Taron turned to look. The kid had long spikey balck hair, and a black long-sleeved shirt. Suik. Up ahead, sat a guy with dyed green hair who wore a black jean jacket. He yawned, stretching it out to attract the most attention to himself. There was also a girl, blonde tall, basically most guys dream girl. The kid had his arm aound her. Justice. That was the kid's name. The kid who used to bully him at the tech. He was six years older than when Taron had last "seen" him. The girl he didn't recognise though. Proffessor Procyon looked annoyed then continued with his lecture. Taron felt his eyes droop, he had always fallen asleep in this class. He fell forward. his eyes closed. ****** Taron suddenly found himself outside of his old house, he peaked through the window, he saw his father and his mother inside. His mother was holding a baby in each arm. He leaned against the window, and fell through the wall. He fell onto his stomach inside of his house. His parents, were talking. "What are we going to do Cindy?" His father asked hi mother. "I don't know Dave. I mean, there's two of them." Dave? Taron wondered. "Look we can't let your husband find out about me, he'll kill you." Oh. OH! "Look, does he know you had twins, Cindy?" His mother laughed. "Yeah, right he barely knew I was pregnant, he's always so drunk." That sounds more like the dad I knew. Taron thought. ****** It all went black for a moment, and when he awoke he was on the strip of highway. Police and ambulence lights were flashing. Off to the side, was a crumpled car, halfway into the tree. Oh god no. He saw his mom, kneeling next to a body, of Dave, his real father. Taron judged that maybe he had been thrown from the car. Taron leaned forward. He was breathing shallowly. He was still alive. He was put onto a stretcher and put into an ambulence. **** A few days later his real parents were sitting in a hospital room. His father was sitting up, almost fully recovered. "I've been thinking...." His mother began. "I think we should each take one of the twins, then go our separate ways. "But Cindy...." "No Dave, look, this is too much. You take Vashra, and I'll take Taron. He'll need his mother more, because of his disability." Dave nodded, "Okay, fine but two things. One: he can never know about me. and two: Keep him safe from Jim." His mother nodded. "I will..." Suddenly Nova appeared floating next to him, Taron turned to look at him. "Why are you showing me this? Why are you torturing me?" The Haunter cackled. "Oh, tis a simple answer friend." He paused dramatically. "To drive you mad." "What?" Taron hadn't really known what to expect as an answer to his question. But it sure wasn't it that. "Why, would you do that?" "In Cerulean, when you were wondering how to beat Misty, you began to think about your childhood, specifically the most painful parts. I was in the forest and sensed these thoughts. I was intrigued, so I entered your mind. I thought it would be fun to see how long it took for these dreams to drive you completly insane...." "You're not serious, after all this is nothing but a dream." Taron said refusing to beleive it. "Oh of course, this is a dream. But I am glorious reality." His permanent grin widened. "And right now, I am looking for more painful memories, to use on you. I'm in your mind... right... now." Taron awoke with a start, to find him staring at the Vermillion City Skyline, the moon was out, and the stars shone brightly. "It was just a dream, it was all just a dream...." TBC.... Comments and constructive criticism would be appreciated. ^_^